○Proutist Economy
In 1959, Indian philosopher P.R. Sarkar proposed the Proutist Economy (PROUT). This is an acronym for "Progressive Utilization Theory," a social system alternative to capitalism and communism. The key points are as follows:
・Humans consist of matter, knowledge, and spirit, and the balance among these three is important.
・Humans seek happiness infinitely, but material things can never satisfy this eternally. Only the spirit, which connects infinitely, can fulfill it.
・Guarantee of four fundamental rights: practice of spirituality, cultural heritage, education, and unique linguistic expression.
・Establishment of the World Federation to aim for human integration.
・Promotion of regional self-sufficiency.
・Land and all things in heaven and earth are common property of humanity. The authority to manage and operate them should be given to those with high spirituality and appropriate ability.
・Ensuring that all people worldwide enjoy essential necessities such as food, medical care, education, and housing.
・Guaranteeing complete safety for all animals and plants on Earth.
・Scientific and technological progress alone does not make humans happy. A new invention is true progress for humanity only if its negative aspects are completely eliminated; if not, it should not be adopted.
Mr. Sarkar proposed the Proutist Economy in 1959, and times have since changed. The modern development of this Proutist Economy is the Prout Village.
○Social Structure of Prout Village
Next, we will look at the social structure of Prout Village from households to the World Federation. The higher-level organizations always delegate part of their rights and authority to the lower-level organizations.
1. World Federation
2. Six Continents
3. Country
4. Prefecture
5. Municipality (Prout Village)
6. Self-sufficient households
Each level has a Leader and a Deputy Leader, who manage operations at their respective levels.
Furthermore, the Municipality (Prout Village), Prefecture, Country, Six Continents, and World Federation each have three common organizations: Administration, Medical & Food, and Manufacturing, which carry out activities according to their scale as named.
Administration: Matters related to municipal management and education
Medical & Food: Matters related to healthcare, food, and agriculture
Manufacturing: Municipality design such as housing and farmland placement, infrastructure design, resource surveys, and production of daily necessities
○Municipality (Prout Village)
Self-sufficient households gather to form a Municipality, which is the Prout Village. In Prout Village, municipalities with populations around 55,000 people are common. Residences are arranged based on a basic pattern of the Flower of Life (FOL) — a circular design — inside a regular hexagon. In nature, hexagonal patterns are seen in snowflakes, turtle shells, atomic and molecular hexagonal lattice arrangements, and so forth. Prout Village adopts the hexagonal layout both for its meaning of living within nature’s cycles and for its efficiency.
In the above diagram, the black lines indicate roads. Roads are constructed without using concrete or asphalt; instead, soil, stones, and wood are used. The roads are designed to be flat and stable enough for wheelchairs and strollers to pass safely, eliminating steps and unevenness. Simultaneously, tactile paving blocks are installed to assist people with visual impairments. On the contrary, even if the roads are made with stylish cobblestones, roads that have bumps or steps causing wheelchairs to shake are not created.
The diameter of one residence is 12 m, its site is 16 m, six residences together measure 49 m, and seven such groups together make 148 m, thus scaling up. The residential area of a Municipality has a diameter of 4 km (radius 2 km), within which houses, farmland, and other facilities are arranged. The entire Municipality forms a regular hexagon with a diameter of 5.5 km, and farmland is also located outside the residential area.
This is the Prout Village Municipality, where everything is arranged in a circular pattern. At its center is a multipurpose plaza.
The multipurpose plaza is a circle with a diameter of 444 m, large enough to fit four baseball stadiums. Here, three facilities manage the Municipality’s information: the General Affairs Department, the Medical-Food Department, and the Manufacturing Department. Also located are the power and water management offices, schools, manufacturing facilities, fire stations, libraries, medical facilities, ceremonial halls, crematories, and animal crematories. The plaza is also used for sports, festivals, concerts, and other events requiring a large space.
If there are historical buildings, shrines, or temples around the Municipality, the nearest Municipality manages them. The entire town’s design is based on whether elderly and physically challenged people can live comfortably. This standard also poses no issues for healthy people.
Graveyards vary according to religion and culture, but the General Affairs Department takes the lead in deciding the cemetery locations within the Municipality.
Additionally, since earthquakes can cause tsunamis, Prout Village will not be built within 7 km inland from the coast. In Japan, this means that residential areas will increase in mountainous regions. The following table is a simulation of placing Prout Villages across Japan.
Number of Houses and Population Calculation (Within 4 km Diameter)
Notes:
・For the 49 m diameter circle, although there are originally 6 houses, one is reserved for hydroponics and chicken farming, so calculation is based on 5 houses.
・For the 4000 m diameter circle, the population of one central plaza (444 m diameter) has been subtracted.
Habitable Population of a Regular Hexagonal Prout Village with Inscribed Circle Diameter 5.5 km
Calculation of Prout Villages (each housing up to 58,800 people) Applied to Japan. First, calculate the residual area of Japan’s generally habitable land after excluding unsuitable locations.
Safe Buildable Area of Japan
A simulation of how many regular hexagonal Prout Villages, each housing 58,800 people, can be arranged within the approximately 62,000 km² of safe buildable area.
Nationwide Arrangement Simulation (Hexagonal Grid Layout)
The safe buildable area is almost fully utilized, but there remains a margin for about 16 million people.
Population per municipality and nationwide accommodation scenario comparison
Municipalities aim for an intermediate population target of about 55,000 people, adjusting housing allocation accordingly.
Additionally, municipalities are arranged in a hexagonal lattice pattern seen in snowflakes and honeycombs. One vertex of each hexagon corresponds to a railway station, and the distance between stations is 5.5 km.
The following link shows an approximate map of potential Prout Village construction sites in Japan. The map is color-coded as follows:
・Green lines: Continental plates
・Blue circles: Areas within 50 km radius from the Fukushima nuclear power plant
・Red dots: Approximate locations where Prout Villages can be constructed. Each red dot represents a diameter of 4 km, totaling 2,942 locations.
Prout Village Construction Site Map Link
The table below shows a simulation of the safe buildable area worldwide where Prout Villages can be constructed.
World “Safe Buildable Area” Simulation
The following table is a simulation assuming a global average household size of 5 people and the entire world population of 10.4 billion living in Prout Villages. Both housing and farmland requirements become sufficiently feasible.
Global Scale Application Simulation (Assuming Population of 10.4 Billion)
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